The Crucible :: English Literature

The Crucible Explore how milling machine dramatises the conflicts within John Proctor and presents him as a good man, despite his failings. How does Miller make him dramatically trenchant for an audience?Refer to Act two and Act four.Millers purpose by writing The Crucible was to express his ownviews on what was happening in the States at the time in 1953 -McCarthyism, a period of intense anticommunism. Miller uses the pillowcase of John Proctor to put across his views. He is provoke inthe character who does not allow himself to be caught up in hysteria,but thinks for himself and stands up for his values. Miller wants toteach us, his audience, about social sentience with deep insights intopersonal weaknesses through his characters. Miller also wants to teachus the important moral lessons about human nature of the notion ofgoodness. Millers process deals with difficult and controversial issuesmaking the audience think about the dulcet and unpleasantexperiences of humans and rela ting them to todays modern world.When writing The Crucible Miller was influenced partly by witchery. For many hundreds of years there was a belief inwitchcraft throughout Europe. This belief in witchcraft persistedamong the English colonists in America. In 1692 there was an outbreakof accusations of witchcraft in Salem, mommy, which lead totwenty dollar bill fair people executed. In the play John Proctor was one ofthe twenty innocent people executed. Of those women accused many wereold women with knowledge of herb tea medicine or other folk remedies, anexample of a character with this description would be Rebecca Nurse,who was hanged with John Proctor in the dramatic brook scene. TheEnglish colonists were Puritans and they felt surrounded by ungodlypeople and associated the woodwind with savages and evil. Miller usesthis belief in the play at the beginning, when Betty, Abigail and tenor twelve other girls were seen dancing in the forest this event wasgreatly frowned upon in the village and led to many accusations.Miller also connect his characters to the Salem witchcrafts as duringthe witchcrafts one man was pressed to death by stones this links tothe character Giles Corey. This trumped-up witch hysteria in Salem,Massachusetts deteriorated the rational and emotional stability of itscitizens. This exploited the populations weakest qualities, andinsecurities. The obvious breakdown in Salems social order led tothis tragedy.McCarthyism also influenced Miller when writing The Crucible. In theearly 1950s Joseph McCarthy, a senator, exploited his fear ofcommunism and managed to stool a national campaign againstCommunists, ex-Communists and anyone associated with them. The playwas produced when McCarthys anti-Communist campaign was at its raising